Music
The basics
Let’s start with the classic Desert Island Discs. Keeping things down to ten albums [Yes, Mari: I know that you only get eight discs on the original BBC DID, but I'm not asking for a book "other than the Bible or Shakespeare", so I've decided that I get two extra albums. My blog, my rules....] is really tough, and I’ve had to cheat a bit by including a couple of double CDs and restricting myself to just rock and stuff – no jazz, classical, soundtracks, musicals, etc. (I’ve also updated the list a couple of times, to reflect my changing moods.) Anyway, here we are:
| Artist | Album | Why I care |
| Dire Straits | Alchemy (live) | Mark Knopfler and the band stretch it out. “Telegraph Road” is one of the best rock stories of all time. |
| Scritti Politti | Cupid&Psyche 85 | Europop? Yes. No. Exquisitely constructed jazzy synth-based dance tracks. |
| Grateful Dead | Live Dead | The continuous flow of “Dark Star”->”St. Stephen” -> “The Eleven” -> “Lovelight” defines rock’n'roll jamming. |
| Orb | adventures beyond the ultraworld | Sound track for my life. |
| Legendary Pink Dots | Crushed Velvet Apocalypse | How to pick just one of the huge repertoire of CDs by Edward Ka-Spel and the Dots? This was what started it all for me. |
| Art of Noise | Seduction of Claude Debussy | The history of 20th century music, from Debussy to rap. |
| Al Stewart | Past, Present & Future | Al has a special place in my heart: another expat Brit, about my age, as British as Gilbert & Sullivan and Bert Jansch. |
| Pink Floyd | Umma Gumma | The first disc is a spiritual experience. And I’m an atheist. |
| The Divine Comedy | Regeneration | I love all of Neil Hannon’s work, but this is my favourite. Yes, there’s a Radiohead influence – but Thom Yorke could never write something as infectiously happy as “Perfect Lovesong”. |
| Porcupine Tree | Lightbulb Sun [Deluxe] | Porcupine Tree has become one of my absolutely favourite groups; I’ve seen them live several times, and I’ve bought everything they’ve recorded. Redefines “progressive” music, without losing touch with what made it special 35+ years ago. |
Propaganda
I’ve always thought that the main reason people put music information into their blogs is to try and convince others of the merits of their favourite – and usually rather obscure – artists. Well, guess what: I’m no different from anyone else. So this section will include just that: artists and CDs that I think you really ought to check out.
| Artist | Album(s) | Why should you care? |
| No-Man | Flowermouth, Returning Jesus | Lyrically subtle, musically subdued yet complex |
| According to my Dream | A2MD Live at the Press Room | Insistent poetry over percussion and bass |
| October Project | October Project, Falling Farther In | Exquisite songs, soaring vocals. They will be back… real soon! |
| Men Without Hats | Pop Goes The World, etc. | MWH? Aren’t they just a one-hit wonder with that cute “Safety Dance” thing? Well, no. Sure, they started out with mainstream synth-driven Europop, but they were always much more than that. Maybe it was the French Canadian influence…. Go back and listen again. |
| (more anon) |
Special links
- Al Stewart: Curtain (3.9MB MP3)
Special pics
Two thumbnails from the January 2007 show in Bellevue, showing Al singing without his guitar (accompanied by Dave), and Al at the piano.
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